Discrimination against my cousin

nottheo
nottheo Community Member Posts: 10 Listener
edited June 2025 in People power

Hi everyone

I’m new on this forum. I wanted to get some thoughts and advice on behalf of my cousin who has cerebral palsy and has just suffered the worst kind of discrimination by BA.


He regularly flies to and from Egypt where he has family. Yesterday he was supposed to fly back from Cairo but BA staff refused him travel on the basis that “last time it took half an hour to board him” and they “could not take this risk again”. This despite the fact that we had requested level 3 assistance for him.

The most upsetting aspect however was the way he was treated by BA. In Cairo airport only individuals travelling are allowed through to the check in desk. So his family had to wait outside while the special assistance porter wheeled him through. Apparently the BA checking manager failed to acknowledge him at all when he tried to speak to him, choosing instead to speak over him to the porter before he was summarily dumped with his luggage at the general area. The BA staff even refused to come and discuss with his family claiming that they were too “busy” and they had “plane to board!”. To compound the matter, we were also told that under BA terms and conditions we had no right to a refund. My cousin was completely traumatised. He felt humiliated and dehumanised by the whole incident. His sister, used to defending him during childhood against school yard bullies, collapsed into tears of frustration as she felt helpless to protect him against this corporate bully.

We have already spoken to BA and they are defending their stance. I have also spoken to the EHRC who advised that the transport is an exemption within the bounds of equality laws meaning that BA may not have broken any laws.

I am wondering if anyone has any similar experience or can advise on this please. It seems unjustifiable discrimination and it frustrates me that BA don’t seem to be taking the matters seriously.

Comments

  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community Member Posts: 17,413 Championing

    Hi @nottheo - & welcome from me too. I'm extremely sorry to read what happened to your cousin. I wonder if contacting BA's CEO might also help, as this simply shouldn't have happened. Please see: https://emailist.co.uk/british-airways-ceo-email-address/

  • nottheo
    nottheo Community Member Posts: 10 Listener

    Thank you so much for your messages of support. I will be sure to message the CEO today. I agree, this is totally unacceptable and I won’t rest until I get justice for my cousin. I was disheartened to hear from the EHRC that there is a loophole behind which corporations can hide to disguise their own priority for convenience, but if this true then the law needs to change so that organisations are no longer able to hide behind this to justify the unjustifiable. I have already written to my MP.

  • nottheo
    nottheo Community Member Posts: 10 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1037030#Comment_1037030

    Thanks for this. This is helpful. I will try to get in touch with Sophie too to make her aware of this incident and the appalling BA response.

  • nottheo
    nottheo Community Member Posts: 10 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1037091#Comment_1037091

    Thank you. This is reassuring. It seems obvious and logical that disabled people should not be treated so appallingly. I have forwarded the complaint to the civil aviation authority but received an automated message advising that BA is part of an alternative dispute resolution body (CEDR) so assume they won’t be involved. I will have to wait for 8 weeks before I can contact the CEDR.


    My only concern is that the check in manager will not admit that he made the flippant comment about it taking too long and will deny treating my cousin with disdain. These people are probably well versed in what to say or not to say if there is a more formal investigation.

  • nottheo
    nottheo Community Member Posts: 10 Listener

    Thanks. I needed to contact the CAA to first so this definitely isn’t a wasted step. I will wait to see if they will do the right thing but in the meantime we’ve put in a request for a subject access request with BA so hoping this will provide some evidence. At least of our complaint at the time this was unfolding.

  • nottheo
    nottheo Community Member Posts: 10 Listener

    Hi Santosha

    No unfortunately my cousin hasn’t yet made it back. We have been told that Egyptair is more helpful as some individuals with more serious disabilities have been able to successfully fly with them unaccompanied. He is still quite shaken so needs some time to get over this before trying again (despite the fact that we will need to cancel medical appointments as a result). The fact that BA won’t even refund the price of the ticket will also have financial implications.

    Thank you very much for your best wishes which I will pass onto my cousin.

  • nottheo
    nottheo Community Member Posts: 10 Listener

    Thank you for all the great advice and your kind words. You’ve given me some good ideas and leads. It helps to know that there are other people around to provide moral support.

  • nottheo
    nottheo Community Member Posts: 10 Listener

    Thank you. That’s a great suggestion.

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